Finding My Way
by MarsAndMighty
Summary: I was just finishing my shift when an earthquake struck. Or at least I thought it was an earthquake, before I heard the roaring. A man ran up to me. "Hello there! End of the world is happening and I need some duct tape to stop it." I blinked once. Twice. "Okay." *** OC's POV. Trying not to write long boring paragraphs, so keeping it short. Also not gonna repeat much canon.


I had the most wonderful dream.

My future self came to me. We sat together on the couch and they told me about their day.

It was a Saturday. They had a hot breakfast at home, and a pleasant lunch with friends at some fancy restaurant.

I asked about video games; virtual reality and all that, how much had it advanced over the years?

They had a nice smile, much nicer than mine now. And hair, and clothes and overall vibe. They were pleasant to be around; or perhaps I'm biased.

There's now apparently a lot more interesting things in life than video games. That's good. I love video games, but I'd love to love other things too.

They said something about friends. Important friends I'd be with forever. The time was coming soon, or something about time, and changes and-

I can't really remember now. But it was wonderful. I can't wait to be that person.

* * *

I was just finishing my shift when an earthquake struck. Or at least I thought it was an earthquake, before I heard the roaring.

A man ran up to me.

"Hello there! End of the world is happening and I need some duct tape to stop it."

I blinked once. Twice.

"Okay."

"Where do you keep it?"

"Keep what?"

"The duct tape! _C'mon_ now, giant monster outside, my ship is in many pieces and I have no tape!"

"Oh, sorry, right, okay. Duct tape."

Then I was running to aisle 23, the man following close behind.

"Fantastic!" He exclaimed. He snatched up a basket and filled it to the brim with duct tape.  
"Thanks!"

Then he was running away. And I followed. I wasn't bothered by him stealing; people steal a lot more than duct tape from us everyday. I just didn't know what else to do.

We ran through the parking lot, from there I could see the monster. Good god, it was huge and wading through the ocean towards us. It snatched its claws through the air, clearly bothered by something. A bird perhaps?

I was confused when the man made a sharp right turn towards a blue box, rather than towards the ocean.

"Where's your boat?"

He didn't turn back, but he missed a step and dropped a roll of tape. I guess he didn't notice me following him.

"What boat? I don't have a boat."

"Then what's the duct tape for?"

"My ship!"

"Same thing!"

"It's really not."

He stopped in front of the box and turned to me.

"Thanks for the escort, but you should really get somewhere safe."

"Uh, I don't think I can outrun a Kraken. Do you need any help saving the world?"

He made a face as he stuck a key into the box.

"It's not a _Kraken!_ It's just lost." He stepped into the box, leaving the door open for me to follow.  
"You might be able to help, though. You any good at wrapping presents?"

I don't know what I thought the box was - a giant tool box or a secret elevator or teleport pad - but I wasn't expecting this.

It was huge. Okay no it wasn't. But it was huge compared to what it should've been.

And it was a mess. Wires and chunks of metal and plastic everywhere. There wasn't anywhere to walk and yet the man seemed to have no problem maneuvering around it all.

"Wrapping presents? Uh, I'm okay. Not a professional but not the worst."

"Good! This'll be a lot like wrapping presents, but instead of toys and wrapping paper, you'll be using ship parts and duct tape. Catch!"

He tossed a roll of tape.

"I... Uh..."

"What? You wanted to help save the world, didn't you?"

"I mean... Yeah, okay. Where do I start?"

"See this?" He holds up a piece of metal.  
"This goes around the console edge like this. Find all the pieces and secure them with as much tape as you need."

I nodded to say I understood and got to work. And I kept nodding to myself the whole time.

Yes, this is weird. Yes, I think I'm in a space ship. Yes, I let a stranger rob the store I work at and am now helping him clean up his mess. Yes! Found another piece.

"Oh, by the way, I'm The Doctor."

"The, huh? You're a doctor? Okay. That's cool."

"No, I'm The Doctor. It's my name."

"Oh! Okay, I'm Way, nice to meet you, The Doctor."

"Oh, bet people like to make jokes out of that name."

"Yeah, yeah they do. Bet people make just as much fun out of yours."

"Surprisingly not, though perhaps it's a bit harder considering I am also a doctor."

"So did you name yourself after your career, or did you choose your career based on the name?"

"Hmm, bit of both."

* * *

"Hey! This thing has a floor! Who would have known."

"What did you think you were standing on?"

"For the past - however long it's been - I have been stepping on nothing but spare parts."

"Right. Well, thanks for the help. You can go home knowing you helped save the world."

"What? But that monster's still out there. Aren't you gonna do something?"

"Course I am! Too dangerous for you though. And I think you'll find it's perfectly safe out there now."

Next thing I knew I was ushered out of the ship and stupidly staring as the blue box faded away.

I looked towards the ocean. The monster was gone.

Suddenly, the only hard evidence that anything strange had happened, was the half-used roll of duct tape in my hand.

* * *

I should've known better than to do something stupid when Janet was working.

People had been looking for me and she had been more than happy to describe the last time she had seen me.

Unfortunately my boss was not happy to hear I thought it was okay steal stuff and ditch work in the middle of a crisis. That was not procedure, or at all acceptable.

I'd never been fired before. I felt so ashamed that I cried, and so ashamed of my crying that I cried even more.

What a wildly strange and awful day.

My dream had been much calmer, much normal-er and much, much nicer.

I was sitting at the bus stop, trying to stop existing when a man ran up to me.

"Way! You goin-" I looked up. It was the man from before. The Doctor.  
"Oh, um. Are you okay?"

I breathed deeply and wiped my face, trying my very best not to think about how awful I must look.

"Got fired."

"Oh. Sorry. Did it have anything to do with the duct tape?"

"Little bit."

"Oh, I'm so sorry. Ah... Is there anything I can do?"

"Well, unless you know about any jobs I can apply for, or have any rope I can hang myself with-" He looked very distressed at that.  
"Sorry. Just some dark humor. Not in the best mood right now."

"Well, you really helped me out today. The least I can do is take you to dinner. What's your comfort food?"

"That's... Nice of you. But I don't know if I'll be able to keep anything down right now."

"Not even... Pancakes on Jupiter?"

"On _Jupiter?_ The planet? There's a _pancake place_ on Jupiter? There's _life on Jupiter right now?!_"

"Oh, no. Nothing on Jupiter for about a century, and no pancakes places for a few."

"Aaand... Your ship can take me there anyway?"

"Yup." He said, looking very proud of himself.

"Well, can't say no to that." I sniffled.

He smiled gently and offered his hand. I probably would have taken it too, if my hands weren't covered in tears and snot.

What a weird day.


End file.
